The First Printed Book by a Scottish Author, 1472: The Editio Princeps of Duns Scotus' Quaestiones

John Duns Scotus. Quaestiones in primum librum Sententiarum Petri Lombardi. Edited by Brother Rufinus. Venice: Wendelin of Speyer, 5 November 1472, folio.

 

THE EDITIO PRINCEPS OF DUNS SCOTUS' MAGNUM OPUS, ONE OF THE GREATEST WORKS OF MEDIEVAL SCHOLASTICISM, PRINTED AT THE FIRST PRESS IN VENICE.

 

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THE EARLIEST OBTAINABLE PRINTED BOOK BY A BRITISH AUTHOR AND THE FIRST PRINTED BOOK BY A SCOTTISH AUTHOR.

Predating the introduction of printing to England by four years, and preceding all other printings of works by British philosophers, this 1472 edition marks a pivotal moment in the transmission of British philosophical thought into the typographic age. It stands not only as a typographical monument but as a foundational printing in the intellectual history of Britain.

 

This important first edition holds the distinction of being among the very earliest printed books authored by a British person, possibly second only to Bartholomaeus Anglicus’ De proprietatibus rerum, a medieval encyclopaedia first printed in Cologne circa 1471–1472 - an edition which is completely unobtainable, making this the first obtainable printed book by a British author. Although broad in scope and inclusive of moral and natural philosophical content, De proprietatibus rerum is best classified as an encyclopaedic reference work rather than a philosophical treatise proper, and even then, the author is largely associated with France rather than Britain, whereas John Duns Scotus is primarily associated with Scotland and England. For more details regarding the claims made as to this being the first printed book by a Scottish author, the earliest obtainable printed book by a British author, etc, see the "additional notes" below.

 

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This is the editio princeps of John Duns Scotus’ commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, the foundational theological textbook of the medieval universities. Written between c.1295 and 1300, this work introduced many of Scotus’ most important doctrines, including the univocity of being, formal distinction, and haecceity. As the origin point of Scotist metaphysics and a defining text of medieval scholasticism, it remains one of the most consequential works in the history of Western philosophy and Christian theology.

 

This edition was printed by Wendelin of Speyer, who took over the press of his brother Johann, the founder of Venice’s first printing house, after Johann’s untimely death in 1470. The 1472 Quaestiones is the first edition of Scotus' magnum opus and was printed using the first Gothic type ever employed in Venice, making it a landmark in both theological and typographic history. The Speyers were among the first generation of printers to arrive in Italy from Mainz in 1468. Johann of Speyer was granted a five year printing monopoly by the Venetian Senate, a rare privilege. Their press was extraordinarily productive and influential: among its most significant productions were the editio princeps of Pliny’s Naturalis Historia (1469), Cicero’s Epistolae ad familiares (1470), and the present Duns Scotus (1472). Some early printing innovations are credited to the Speyer brothers, including the first use of catchwords, Arabic numeral leaf numbering, and, according to some, even the invention of Roman type, though this latter claim more likely belongs to Pannartz & Sweynheim or perhaps Adolf Rusch & Johannes Mentelin. Regardless, the Quaestiones is undoubtedly one of the most significant printings from the Speyer press.

 

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A SUPERB RUBRICATED COPY WITH PAINTED INITIALS AND FINE MONASTIC PROVENANCE

 

This copy is a well rubricated and beautifully preserved example of the editio princeps, with a large coloured opening initial with acanthus decoration and numerous red and blue painted Lombard initials throughout, including some with fine fleuronnée-style extensions. It remains in its original 15th century binding, and bears the ownership inscriptions of three distinct monasteries, establishing its provenance within learned religious communities from the 15th to 19th centuries (more details below). Internally, the copy is notably wide margined, with early manuscript quire signatures largely preserved, confirming minimal trimming. This is an exceptionally well preserved copy, fresh to the market having been kept in a private collection for over four decades.

 

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This first edition is exceptionally rare on the market. The ISTC (id00374000) records 46 holding institutions, only 3 of which are in the UK. This copy is one of very few copies in private hands worldwide. Copies on the market are very scarce indeed; this is the only copy of the editio princeps we can trace to have come to the market in at least the last few decades. By contrast, the second edition, printed just two weeks later (19 November 1472) by an eponymous and obscure press for Antonius Bononiensis and Christophorus Bellapiera, recently sold for £22,000 in Quaritch's 2021 New York fair catalogue.

 

This copy, by contrast, is not only the true first edition, but was produced by one of the foundational figures of early Venetian printing, and is far superior in both condition and bibliographic significance, as well as being the first printed book by a Scottish author. Indeed, it is extremely unlikely that another comparable copy of the first edition will appear on the market in the near future, this being not only the sole obtainable copy, but arguably among the finest extant, even when compared to institutional holdings.

 

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Provenance:

In the collection of the now destroyed Carthusian monastery of Ilmbach with their ownership inscriptions circa the 15th and 16th centuries. This was presumably the original purchaser of this copy.

With the Franciscan Monastery of St Elisabeth, Thuringia in the 18th century, thus by descent to the Franciscan Monastery of Dettelbach in the 19th century with their ownership stamp.

In private ownership for more than 40 years in a German collection until acquired by us.

 

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Size: 235 x 350 mm (approx.)

 

 

Condition:

223 leaves, of 224, lacking only the final blank. Gothic type in double column, 46 lines, finely rubricated throughout with red and blue Lombard initials and with an extremely fine opening initial painted with two acanthus tendrils in green, turquoise, yellow, red, and blue. Internally bright and fresh, extremely well preserved. Minor marginal worming at the end of the page block with a very light dampstain in the upper marginal blank space through just over half of the text block. Original blank present at the front, but with renewed endpapers. Early MS quire signatures at the lower corner of each leaf extant showing minimal trimming. Attractive wide margined text.

Contemporary calf over wooden boards decorated in blind with the title written to the bottom edge presumably during monastic ownership, indicating that this was probably stored laid flat. Rebacked with corners similarly restored. Binding rubbed with some discolouration but overall attractive. Some evidence of former metalwork fittings.

 

[GW 9079; USTC 995164; Goff D374; ISTC id00374000; Hain 6422; Pell 4456; Bod-inc D171]

 

 

Additional notes:

While the editio princeps of the Liber de vita et moribus philosophorum (c.1470, Cologne) slightly predates the 1472 Scotus editio princeps, that work cannot be considered the first printed philosophy book by a British author. Though some early printed editions attributed it to Walter Burley (an Englishman), this attribution has been definitively rejected; the text is now recognised as anonymous (or sometimes as pseudo-Burley). Moreover, its content is biographical rather than philosophical, drawing heavily on Henricus Aristippus’ Latin translation of Diogenes Laertius, and belongs stylistically to the moralising florilegia of the early Renaissance rather than to the scholastic tradition.

The Scotus editio princeps certainly precedes the editiones principes of William of Ockham (1476), Alexander de Hales (1481), Richard of Middleton (1489), Thomas Bradwardine (1495), and other British authors we could trace. We also contacted the National Library of Scotland and the Rylands Library at the University of Manchester who also could not trace any earlier books securely attributable to a British author other than Bartholomaeus Anglicus and possibly Sacrobosco (see below).

Johannes de Sacrobosco’s De sphaera mundi, is an introductory astronomical text printed in early 1472, a few months prior to the Scotus princeps. Though his exact origin is uncertain, a contemporary commentator writing just after Sacrobosco’s death in 1271 refers to him as English, and later traditions associate him with Britain. While De sphaera mundi circulated widely in print, the earliest editions are exceptionally rare and essentially unobtainable, with no appearances at auction or in dealer catalogues that we can trace of the first two editions which precede this Scotus imprint by a few months. Sacrobosco is not securely of British origin and there is much scholarly debate concerning his birthplace, and indeed, concerning his entire biography. Sacrobosco's 1472 editio princeps has no traceable appearances at auction and ISTC records only 3 extant copies worldwide with no privately owned copies known. 

Therefore the present Scotus princeps remains the earliest securely attributed printed work of philosophy by a British, and notably Scottish, author, and is a significant landmark in both intellectual and typographic history. We could trace no earlier printed books attributable to a Scottish author.